Oman finishes fifth in qualifiers

Muscat Daily staff writer

January 27, 2013

Oman snatched a 1-0 win against Lebanon in the fifth place playoff match in the Asian qualifying round for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup at Katara Beach in Doha, Qatar, on Friday. Oman's Yaqoub al Araimi scored the only goal of the match in the sixth minute.

Earlier in the tournament, Oman, which is coached by Talib Hilal, failed to make it to the semifinals from Group A despite winning two of its three group matches. Australia topped Group A with three victories in three games, having beaten Oman, Afghanistan and Qatar, as it entered the semifinals of the Doha tournament. Oman lost 4-6 to the Australians in the opener, but recovered well to beat Afghanistan 7-0 and Qatar 3-1 to finish second in its group.

A total of 16 countries, pooled into four groups, played for three spots from Asia for the World Cup, which will be played in Tahiti from September 18-28. Iran became the first team to book a spot for the Tahiti event after it edged UAE 3-2 in the first semifinal on Friday, while Japan edged out Australia 3-2 to take the second spot from Asia. UAE will play Australia in the third-place playoff game for the only spot left from Asia, while Japan will face Iran in the final.